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RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council, by Motion, determine on the basis of the evidence submitted by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., that the property owner has complied in good faith with the terms and conditions of Development Agreement No. 96-01 for the 2017-2018 review period.
DISCUSSION:
On October 22, 1996, the City of Anaheim and Walt Disney World Company (Disney) executed the attached Development Agreement (Agreement) that governs the development of The Disneyland Resort®. The Agreement includes development of a second theme park (Disney California Adventure), additional hotel and entertainment areas (Downtown Disney), administrative office facilities, back-of-house facilities, new public and private parking facilities, an internal transportation system, and the ongoing maintenance, enhancement and expansion of The Disneyland Resort. The Agreement has a 40-year term that expires in 2036. The Agreement covers all properties owned or controlled by Disney within the Disneyland Resort Specific Plan (DRSP). The Agreement does not cover properties that Disney owns or controls outside of the boundaries of the DRSP. The attached map shows all of the Disney-controlled properties within The Anaheim Resort.

The Agreement is essentially a contract between the City and Disney that outlines the roles and responsibilities of both parties. It confers benefits and assigns various responsibilities, often times commonly referred to as “obligations." Section 3.1 of the Agreement specifies Disney’s seven obligations. The Agreement required Disney to comply with four of the seven obligations prior to the “Opening Day Project.” The “Opening Day Project” is defined in Section 1.45 and described in Exhibit F of the Agreement and includes Disney California Adventure theme park, Downtown Disney,and the Grand Californian hotel. Disney demonstrated to the City Council in February 2002 that Disney completed the four obligations with the 2001 opening of Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian hotel.

As part of its 2006-2007 annual review of the Agreement, the City Council deemed a fifth obligation complete. This obligation pertained to right-of-way acquisition and dedication. The Agreement did not tie this obligation or the remaining two obligations to the Opening Day Project. Compliance with the remaining two obligations, related to the phasing of the “remaining development” and the Anaheim Jobs program, is determined on an ongoing basis by the City Council with its annual review. Disney’s representative has submitted the attached Annual Review letter, dated October 22, 2018. The letter outlines Disney’s activities and compliance within the reporting period (October 2017 through October 2018), including Disney’s performance concerning its remaining two obligations, described below.
Phasing of Remaining Development Beyond the Opening Day Project, Disney has the right, but is not obligated, to continue to develop the theme park, hotels and entertainment area in accordance with the development limits set forth in the DRSP. During the review period, Disney completed a variety of projects to support the new “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” land within the Disneyland theme park and Pixar Pier in Disney’s California Adventure. Also within the review period, Disney constructed and expanded various facilities throughout the theme parks as part of its annual capital improvement and park maintenance efforts.

Anaheim Jobs
The Agreement required Disney to develop and submit to the City an Anaheim Jobs program six months prior to the opening of the Disney California Adventure theme park and to maintain the program throughout the term of the Agreement. Staff has attached an updated report on the components of the current Anaheim Jobs program and the activities/events held during the reporting period. Activities include recruiting at local job fairs and at Anaheim Summer Movie nights, as well as posting flyers at Anaheim gathering places. The report also acknowledges the recent closure of businesses at the west end of Downtown Disney. Disney employees affected by the closures were offered other positions at the Disneyland Resort, the majority of whom accepted the positions, while some did not respond to employment offers or opted to seek employment elsewhere.

Staff carefully reviewed the Development Agreement and Disney’s Annual Review letter and found the property owner to be in full compliance with its obligations. Staff recommends that the City Council determine that the property owner has complied in good faith with the terms and conditions of the Agreement for this review period.<<

Well-Known Member

A lot to catch up on.... My wife of 9 years today is in bed, since she has to get up early for work. We started the day at Knott's, since that is where we got married. Wanted to ride Silver Bullet (The ride we rode right after the ceremony), but the track had a crack right at the photo op area, so down for repairs. (Basically the pressure of the steel tubing went too low, indicating the crack). Rode Hangtime instead, got a SP meal, then headed to the Honda Center, where we watched the Ducks Game from a Center Ice Suite.

The Homeless issue is going well, word is getting out that Anaheim isn't allowing camping, noticed an increase of Homeless in Buena Park, but not near Knott's. Santa Ana is like Anaheim, and have a new shelter and enforcing the camping laws.

More than 150 people have moved to an interim emergency homeless shelter from Maxwell, La Palma and Schweitzer parks, a west Anaheim street corner, an underpass at Gene Autry Way and Santa Cruz Street and elsewhere, and the parks and other spaces have been cleared, cleaned and restored.

The clearing of the encampments was the result of extensive outreach by the city and our nonprofit partners, who have been working for days with those living in the parks and on the streets to offer them services and a bed at Anaheim’s newly opened interim emergency homeless shelter.

For the past two weeks, our team of social workers from the city’s nonprofit partners, along with Anaheim Police, Anaheim Public Works, Code Enforcement, Community Services, Anaheim Fire & Rescue and others, have been out helping people transition out of homelessness while also addressing unsustainable encampments in our parks and public spaces.

Since the 200-bed interim emergency homeless shelter opened on Dec. 20 — after an astounding 14-day buildout — we have been able to clear encampments at Maxwell Park, La Palma Park, Schweitzer Park, Gene Autry Way, Katella Avenue and at the corner of La Palma Avenue and Magnolia Street.<<

>>When crowds descend upon the Disneyland Resort, the first workers they often encounter are security guards. Before heading into the House of the Mouse, park goers have to pass through baggage checks, metal detectors and wand scanning to ensure that the Happiest Place on Earth is also the safest. With such an important job, the Independent Employee Service Association (IESA), a union that represents about 1,200 security workers, won a new contract that boosts base pay to $16.60 an hour starting today.

“Everything was done with such good faith with the company,” a Disneyland security guard tells the Weekly, though not wanting to be named. “The way they approached this was so much better than ever before.”

Indeed, the Mouse made haste. Disney came to IESA in November to kick start negotiations months before the union’s contract with the company was set to expire in April. After just a few weeks of negotiations, members ratified the new contract back on Dec. 10 that earned them significant pay raises. The new starting salary for a security “host” at the Disneyland Resort amounts to a 25 percent increase for a job where being bilingual and having previous security, law enforcement or military experience is preferred.

“From implementing the largest wage increases in the resort’s history to rolling out our groundbreaking Disney Aspire education program, we are proud of the work we’ve accomplished [together] to further enhance the experience for our cast,” says Liz Jaeger, Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, in a provided statement.

The four-year contract guarantees pay raises that top out at $18.10 an hour in 2022, a dime higher than the wage scale proposed by Measure L, a living wage law championed by the Coalition of Resort Labor Unions that Anaheim voters passed in November. Belonging to the 11-union coalition, IESA represents about 1,200 security staffers. “I felt I was underpaid, we all did,” says the anonymous security guard. “That’s why we pushed this contract hard. That’s why we joined the coalition and pushed Measure L.”

Disney now reports that about 75 percent of its 30,000 workforce will make $15 an hour or more by the end of this month, a tacit admission that it’s continuing to address issues of pay at the negotiating table irrespective of the living wage law..<<

>>The union made concessions on workplace issues like random drug testing. They also set out to gain higher wages but settled on a contract that ultimately provides a good pay raise–something becoming more commonplace at the House of the Mouse.<<

Sorry, but ANY position in the resort related to Safety should have that clause. Security, Tram Drivers, Ride Operators, etc. Surprised to hear that they weren't subject to testing until now.

Looking back after his passing, there were things that add up, from having the need to have a private bathroom nearby (Actually bought a black van for getting to remotes, had a bathroom and bed for napping, was known to disappear during newscasts on weekends (he was in charge of them, besides being an anchor), etc. Strange things but by themselves were looked at as his personal quirks.

>>Is It OK For A Union Boss To Headline An Event At A Hotel That Her Union Is Picketing?<<

>>Ada Briceno, the jefa of UNITE-HERE Local 11 and now also chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, has been publishing Facebook posts asking people to come join her union in picketing and noise-making in front of the Anaheim Hilton – most recently earlier today:<<

>>A few hours later, Briceno published another Facebook post urging support for the Access California Services annual gala she is headlining on February 9… at the same Anaheim Hilton that her union is actively picketing:<<

Enough for tonight, need to head to bed myself...

Might have more to say, but need to think how to word it, and right now is not the time, as my mind is already have in bed.....

Just will say good inside knowledge in regards to the city and Disney.....

>>When crowds descend upon the Disneyland Resort, the first workers they often encounter are security guards. Before heading into the House of the Mouse, park goers have to pass through baggage checks, metal detectors and wand scanning to ensure that the Happiest Place on Earth is also the safest. With such an important job, the Independent Employee Service Association (IESA), a union that represents about 1,200 security workers, won a new contract that boosts base pay to $16.60 an hour starting today.

“Everything was done with such good faith with the company,” a Disneyland security guard tells the Weekly, though not wanting to be named. “The way they approached this was so much better than ever before.”

Indeed, the Mouse made haste. Disney came to IESA in November to kick start negotiations months before the union’s contract with the company was set to expire in April. After just a few weeks of negotiations, members ratified the new contract back on Dec. 10 that earned them significant pay raises. The new starting salary for a security “host” at the Disneyland Resort amounts to a 25 percent increase for a job where being bilingual and having previous security, law enforcement or military experience is preferred.

“From implementing the largest wage increases in the resort’s history to rolling out our groundbreaking Disney Aspire education program, we are proud of the work we’ve accomplished [together] to further enhance the experience for our cast,” says Liz Jaeger, Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, in a provided statement.

The four-year contract guarantees pay raises that top out at $18.10 an hour in 2022, a dime higher than the wage scale proposed by Measure L, a living wage law championed by the Coalition of Resort Labor Unions that Anaheim voters passed in November. Belonging to the 11-union coalition, IESA represents about 1,200 security staffers. “I felt I was underpaid, we all did,” says the anonymous security guard. “That’s why we pushed this contract hard. That’s why we joined the coalition and pushed Measure L.”

Disney now reports that about 75 percent of its 30,000 workforce will make $15 an hour or more by the end of this month, a tacit admission that it’s continuing to address issues of pay at the negotiating table irrespective of the living wage law..<<

>>The union made concessions on workplace issues like random drug testing. They also set out to gain higher wages but settled on a contract that ultimately provides a good pay raise–something becoming more commonplace at the House of the Mouse.<<

Sorry, but ANY position in the resort related to Safety should have that clause. Security, Tram Drivers, Ride Operators, etc. Surprised to hear that they weren't subject to testing until now.

Looking back after his passing, there were things that add up, from having the need to have a private bathroom nearby (Actually bought a black van for getting to remotes, had a bathroom and bed for napping, was known to disappear during newscasts on weekends (he was in charge of them, besides being an anchor), etc. Strange things but by themselves were looked at as his personal quirks.

Thank you for the calm and measured approach you have taken to covering the homeless issue in Anaheim. It is consistent with the kinds of things I have heard from people who are experienced in dealing with homeless populations. Living rough in an urban or even suburban setting is not a good way to live. Add addiction and mental health issues and it's terrible. Getting people into shelter and providing desperately needed support and services is critical to ending the cycle of homelessness.

For a community to effectively deal with homelessness it must be unified in its approach. Too often progress is hampered by political backbiting, turf wars, and demonization of homeless people. Sadly, not every homeless person will respond to offers of assistance, or not quickly. But many will. It's not easy for a community to gather the collective will to address the difficult issues that cause an expanding homeless population. I'm glad to see that Anaheim is trying and that a wide range of people and organizations are getting on board.

When a community deals effectively with homelessness, everyone benefits. This is a great start for Anaheim, but it will take other cities stepping up to the plate for a truly effective results for Orange County. I urge everyone to become educated about the realities of homelessness and how communities can effectively deal with it. Getting homeless people out of the city parks and open spaces is just the visible tip of the iceberg. Real progress will come from addressing the causes of homelessness and building real paths for people to escape its traps. Yes, some individuals will be too affected by addiction, mental illness, depression, or despair to use these opportunities to their best advantage. But we have to remain focused on those who will be able to respond and persevere to a better life.

Thank you again for covering this in such great detail and in such an even-handed and responsible fashion.

Well-Known Member

>>Anaheim’s new mayor and City Council are starting a fresh round of negotiations with Angels baseball, hoping to reach an agreement before the team’s lease for the city-owned stadium expires.

A proposal the City Council is expected to consider Tuesday, Jan. 15, would extend the Angel Stadium lease through the end of 2020 so the two sides have time to hash out a new deal.

After more than 50 years playing in the stadium that bears their name, the Angels in October exercised an opt-out clause; the team would otherwise have been locked into the lease for another decade. Since 2013, negotiations between the city and Angels management have broken down several times, with the last official meeting in 2016.

Past talks have revolved around development rights to 150 acres of parking lots around the stadium and how to pay for the estimated $130 million to $150 million in maintenance and upgrades the stadium will need over the next 20 years.

Mayor Harry Sidhu, who took office in December, said in a statement Thursday that he met with Angels owner Arte Moreno last week.

“From that meeting, it is clear the team’s priority is to stay in Anaheim, if we can work out a deal that benefits our residents, the city and the team. We need a plan to make that happen, and we need time to make that happen,” Sidhu said.

Moreno, in his first public remarks on the issue in some time, said in a statement: “After meeting with Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, we realized a one-year extension will give us adequate time to work collaboratively on a long-term relationship.”

While neither side has commented in recent months on specifics of what they hope a new lease might include, city spokesman Mike Lyster said, “We’re going to look at everything from rehabbing the stadium all the way to building a new stadium.”<<

What can I add? Not much, I am not involved at all with this deal, but got to be included in the after-meeting discussion last night. So all I can say is both sides are serious in making a deal happen, and having a full year to look at EVERYTHING and decide the best path forward.

The just completed deal with the Ducks will be a blueprint as what to expect from both sides.

One angle I liked, the city giving more freedom to the Angels, in return for a bigger share of the profits.

No way to declare any sort of victory, but a positive step forward in keeping the Angels in Anaheim, and much better tone than the toxic position between Mayor Tait and the Angels.

In other items, the city leaders are surprised that UNITE HERE has not sued on behalf of an employee in regards to the ALWI. Seems like UNITE HERE feels they won't win, and might cause the law to be invalidated for legal reasons. And since they are in strike mode region wide, they don't want to have to deal with the loss image wise.

Active Member

>>Anaheim’s new mayor and City Council are starting a fresh round of negotiations with Angels baseball, hoping to reach an agreement before the team’s lease for the city-owned stadium expires.

A proposal the City Council is expected to consider Tuesday, Jan. 15, would extend the Angel Stadium lease through the end of 2020 so the two sides have time to hash out a new deal.

After more than 50 years playing in the stadium that bears their name, the Angels in October exercised an opt-out clause; the team would otherwise have been locked into the lease for another decade. Since 2013, negotiations between the city and Angels management have broken down several times, with the last official meeting in 2016.

Past talks have revolved around development rights to 150 acres of parking lots around the stadium and how to pay for the estimated $130 million to $150 million in maintenance and upgrades the stadium will need over the next 20 years.

Mayor Harry Sidhu, who took office in December, said in a statement Thursday that he met with Angels owner Arte Moreno last week.

“From that meeting, it is clear the team’s priority is to stay in Anaheim, if we can work out a deal that benefits our residents, the city and the team. We need a plan to make that happen, and we need time to make that happen,” Sidhu said.

Moreno, in his first public remarks on the issue in some time, said in a statement: “After meeting with Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, we realized a one-year extension will give us adequate time to work collaboratively on a long-term relationship.”

While neither side has commented in recent months on specifics of what they hope a new lease might include, city spokesman Mike Lyster said, “We’re going to look at everything from rehabbing the stadium all the way to building a new stadium.”<<

What can I add? Not much, I am not involved at all with this deal, but got to be included in the after-meeting discussion last night. So all I can say is both sides are serious in making a deal happen, and having a full year to look at EVERYTHING and decide the best path forward.

The just completed deal with the Ducks will be a blueprint as what to expect from both sides.

One angle I liked, the city giving more freedom to the Angels, in return for a bigger share of the profits.

No way to declare any sort of victory, but a positive step forward in keeping the Angels in Anaheim, and much better tone than the toxic position between Mayor Tait and the Angels.

In other items, the city leaders are surprised that UNITE HERE has not sued on behalf of an employee in regards to the ALWI. Seems like UNITE HERE feels they won't win, and might cause the law to be invalidated for legal reasons. And since they are in strike mode region wide, they don't want to have to deal with the loss image wise.

Both, the city and the Angels are going to look at every option, including the 2 mentioned, over the next few months. A lot of number crunching, who pays for it, and what each side gets out of the deal.

Basically starting from scratch. Sounds like the Angels prefer either a new Ballpark, or a majorly rebuilt one. The city's main concern is money, not much out, and the most they can get long term. One demand is a better deal and more income yearly in the future.

Don't expect to hear much in the next few months. The city prefers to keep the negotiation out of the media, very similar to the Ducks deal just approved.

Well-Known Member

>>If the Disneyland Resort is ignoring Anaheim’s new living wage law, the city sure ain’t giving them reason to pay it any mind. Passed by voters in November, Measure L became effective on Jan. 1, 2019. It holds that resort-area corporations with tax rebate agreements must pay workers $15 an hour this year–annual dollar increases tip the scale to an $18 hourly wage by 2022. Overseeing the new law, Anaheim sent posters with wage requirement information to a handful of hotel businesses, but not the Disneyland Resort.

“Disneyland does not fall under the new ordinance, per a review by our city attorney with the assistance of outside counsel,” says Mike Lyster, city spokesman. “Disney does not receive or hold agreements for tax rebates or an entertainment tax policy, which are the key triggers of Measure L.”<<

>>In the meantime, the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, a non-union hotel, is the only up-and-running resort-area business to comply with the living wage law–even if it arrived in the debate as an afterthought. Back in July 2002, Anaheim city council originally approved a 50 percent bed tax subsidy for the DoubleTree Hotel project. Construction of the hotel finished four years later, and, by city staff calculations, the tax rebates will continue through 2021–when the living wage law prescribes a $17 an hour salary.

Anaheim also determined that hotel projects by Wincome Group and the JW Marriott at the GardenWalk would be subject to the wage law once completed and staffed. In the election battle over Measure L, opponents suggested that its passage could lead to the cancellation of both a Wincome and GardenWalk hotel that are already on hold and haven’t yet begun construction, killing jobs off along the way. Jeff Flint, a spokesman for Wincome, declined to comment for this story when reached by phone. Fabela briefly considered the GardenWalk itself to be applicable once it was pointed out to him that it had a sales tax rebate agreement reaffirmed with the city in 2013, but as a shopping mall, it didn’t fit the definition of businesses targeted under the ordinance.<<

>>REINSTATEMENT OF CURRENT STADIUM LEASE AND EXTENSION OF OPTION TO TERMINATE

ACTION: That the City Council, by Motion, approve a Second Amendment to Amended and Restated Lease Agreement By and Between the City of Anaheim and Angels Baseball LP, authorizing the City Manager to execute the Agreement to extend the termination date by fourteen months and determining the action to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060, 15061 and 15301.

BACKGROUND: This item has been requested to be placed on the agenda by Mayor Sidhu in order to provide Angels Baseball with an additional fourteen months to terminate the lease agreement between the Angels and the City. This extension will provide both parties with the necessary time to negotiate a long-term agreement that benefits the City, its residents, and the team – thereby keeping the Angels in Anaheim for many years to come.

In 1996, the City of Anaheim entered into an Amended and Restated Lease Agreement (“Original Lease”) that was ultimately assumed by Angels Baseball, L.P. The term of the Lease runs to December 31, 2029. The Original Lease granted the Angels the sole right to terminate, for any reason and without cause, no earlier than October 15, 2016 and no later than February 15, 2017 upon providing the City at least twelve months' written notice (“2016 Termination Right”). In practical terms this termination right, if exercised by the Angels, had the effect of creating a shorter lease term that could be viewed as ending as early as 2016.

At the September 3, 2013 meeting of the Anaheim City Council, the Council authorized an amendment to the Original Lease. The sole amendment in that action was to change the dates of the termination clause, extending the termination right for an additional three years from October 2016 to October 2019. Under this amendment, the Angels had the right to terminate the lease agreement by October 16, 2019, with 12 months’ notice (“Current Termination Right”).

Practically, this meant that by October 16, 2018, if Angels Baseball LP had not given the City 12 months’ notice of their intent to exercise this Current Termination Option, they would have been obligated to fulfill the terms of the lease until the original term of the lease, December 31, 2029. On October 16, 2018, the Angels did notify the City that they were exercising their option under the Current Termination Right.

If approved, the proposed Second Amendment to the Amended and Restated Lease Agreement, would determine that the Angels’ election to exercise their termination option, as stated in their letter dated October 15, 2018, is rescinded, null and void, and of no effect.

Further, the amendment will provide the Angels’ with a fourteen (14) month extension to their termination rights so as to provide them the option to terminate this lease as of December 31, 2020, provided that they give twelve months written notice.

As stated during the last lease amendment, a one-year extension could benefit the City in a handful of ways. First, it provides the City and Angels Baseball time to work out a likely complicated transaction that would help finance substantial investments in the current stadium and/or a plan to build a new stadium. Second, it signals the City’s willingness to work in cooperation with a longtime tenant and partner in reaffirming our partnership. Third, by limiting the extension to only fourteen months, it gives an end date for discussions so that if a new arrangement has not been reached in the near future, the City can start to plan for the utilization and development of the City asset absent a major league baseball team. Finally, the proposed extension allows for at least two more seasons of major league baseball in Anaheim and the benefits that the City receives from current operations.

ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed resolutions (a) authorize negotiating in a nonbinding manner where the City has not yet committed to implementation, formulation and development of terms and provisions of any potential agreements that may (or may not) be presented to the Council in the future and (b) approve entering a lease amendment for an existing use and, therefore, are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines sections 15060(c)(2), 15061(b)(3) and 15301 (Existing Facilities). These provisions provide that the proposed actions are not subject to CEQA because (i) the activity approved by the resolutions will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment; (ii) there is no possibility that the activity approved by the resolutions may have a significant effect on the environment; and (iii) the activity approved by the resolution will not expand existing uses.

IMPACT ON BUDGET: There is no impact on the General Fund. Expenses and revenues resulting from the Lease are contained in the Convention, Sports and Entertainment Departmental annual budgets.<<